Shaquille O’Neal comes to Angel Reese’s aid, shoots down Caitlin Clark hype

Shaquille O’Neal has shared his two pennies on the ongoing discussion about the renewed interest in the WNBA. While many think Caitlin Clark’s arrival has done wonders for the league, O’Neal believes Clark doesn’t deserve all the credit in this situation.

During this week’s edition of The Big Podcast, the four-time NBA champion gave flowers to more players, stating that not only Clark is leaving a mark on the league, but so are other rookies and veterans.

“Don’t say, ‘Oh, we’re getting new sponsorship because if Caitlin [Clark]. No, what about Angel [Reese]? What about [Kamilla] Cardoso? What about my favorite, Kelsey Plum? Cameron Brink,” O’Neal wondered.

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“I got cooked”: Angel Reese drops honest admission on her biggest welcome to the WNBA moment

“I think why people get upset is, as a player, you don’t want to be forgotten.”

These words are similar to what Angel Reese said when she claimed she was also the reason why more people were paying attention to the WNBA.

The former LSU star admitted she was willing to embrace a villain role in the league if that meant she would help her team and, more importantly, women’s basketball 20 years from now.

“People are pulling up to games. We’ve got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas. Just because of one single game. And just looking at that,

I’ll take that role, I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates,” Reese said at the start of June.

“I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like, ‘Yeah, the reason why we watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me, too.’ And I want y’all to realize that.”

Shaquille O’Neal has developed a close relationship with Angel Reese

Shaquille O’Neal and Angel Reese initially met in February of 2023 when Reese hosted O’Neal’s daughter, Me’arah when she visited LSU. Since then, they have developed a close relationship, with Shaq publicly supporting her against critics and Reese referring to Shaq as “uncle.”

The fact that they went to the same college played a role in this relationship, with Shaquille O’Neal even claiming Reese was the best athlete in the history of LSU, man or woman.

They are now business partners as Reebok signed Reese last year, extending the relationship between Shaq and the Chicago Sky rookie.